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It was very early in the morning. The sun had just started peaking out over the horizon, casting a soft glow through the window and onto the sleeping couple.
The light disturbed Tighnari, who awoke with an annoyed grumble before turning his face to hide in his lover’s chest. He tried falling back asleep, but time was not on his side as at that moment their alarm clock went off. “For the love of the archons,” the fox muttered. He unwillingly sat up to reach over and turn off the obtrusive alarm that was irritating his ears.
“Someone woke up grouchy,” Cyno chuckled. Tighnari looked down and glared at the other man who was now awake as well.
“I would be in a better mood if the children didn’t keep me up so late,” the fox replied as he plopped back down to his previous position. “Lay with me for a few more minutes.”
Cyno adjusted himself under his husband, wrapping both arms around the other and tucking his own face in between the fox’s ears. “You’re usually the one dragging me out of bed.”
Tighnari only replied with a tired whine.
“Okay, okay. Just a few minutes.” Cyno didn’t really care- laying together like this was his favorite way to start the day anyways.
The two of them closed their eyes and dozed off once again nestled in each other’s arms. Like this, they could pretend all the problems in the world did not exist. Sadly, things did not remain peaceful.
Both men were startled awake once again when their bedroom door opened abruptly, creating a loud bang from it hitting the wall. The two shot up, quickly untangling their limbs from each other, and looked at the intruder with wide eyes.
“We’re going to be late to school,” Collei stated. Nahida popped her head into the room, nodding along.
Tighnari looked over at the alarm clock. “Shit, we overslept,” the fox screeched as he scrambled to get out of bed. He shooed the girls out of the room, telling them to hurry up and get dressed as they were still in their pajamas.
“Language,” Cyno reminded him, taking his precious time getting up.
“You’re not the one who has to go to work early in the morning,” Tighnari spat out in reply as he ran around the room finding his work uniform.
The white haired man pouted in response, finally standing up and started to help his lover get ready. “I would prefer to work in the morning rather than in the evening so we would actually be able to spend more time together.” He found the earring Tighnari had been struggling to find and handed it to the fox.
“At least we both have the weekends off,” Tighnari replied as he clipped the earring into his ear, looking into their bedroom mirror to help guide his hand. “That way we can also spend time with the kids.”
“Fair point.” Cyno reached over to land a kiss on the other’s forehead. “I’ll help Collei and Nahida get ready.”
The fox responded with a happy hum, and Cyno left the bedroom. He headed into the kitchen and got out the food containers for their pets. Upon hearing the familiar sound of the lid being open, the family’s cat came running in, nearly stumbling over itself in its hurry.
“Easy now, little Scaramouche,” Cyno reached out to pet the feline as he poured food into the dish. The cat hissed in response to being petted, and ducked his head out of the way. The family dog, Karkata, followed soon behind and waited silently for the man to get to his own food dish. Cyno smiled at the dog, before frowning at the cat. “You should learn to be more like Karkata. Kind and patient.”
After finishing feeding the pets, Cyno went to preparing breakfast. He got out a pre-made waffle mix and stirred it with water before pouring it into the waffle maker. 2 waffles were made for each girl, and after they were done cooking he prepared them with syrup and butter on separate plates. Cyno went over to his daughters' bedroom and knocked on the door. “Breakfast is ready,” the father spoke loud enough for the girls to hear through the wall.
Collei opened the door and looked up at her father with a frown. She had already finished getting dressed. “Isn’t it a bit too late to be having breakfast? We need to get to school!”
Cyno just shrugged. “No matter how fast we go at this time, you’re going to be late no matter what. At least you can be late on a full stomach rather than late on an empty stomach.” Collei grumbled at this but couldn’t argue. Nahida was already pushing past them to get to the kitchen, so she just followed along.
When the girls sat at the table, the family pets quickly came over to join them. Scaramouche found his place curled up into a ball on Nahida’s lap, while Karkata sat next to Collei. He looked up at the girl with eyes pleading for her to pet him, and she happily obliged.
As his daughters were busy eating, Cyno went around their bedroom grabbing all the things they’d need such as their bookbags and jackets. He dropped them in the living room, ready for the girls to grab them.
Tighnari finished getting ready at the same time Collei and Nahida finished eating. He popped his head into the kitchen to check up on the girls. “You guys ready to go?”
Nahida perked up, “Yep!” Her face, however, was covered in syrup and butter.
“Cyno, you couldn’t have picked a less messy breakfast?” Tighnari laughed seeing his daughter. He grabbed a napkin to wipe the girl’s face with. Nahida grumbled in annoyance at this, but eventually sat still enough to let him clean her up.
“I picked a quick to make, easy to eat meal,” Cyno responded matter-of-factly as he reentered the kitchen.
“How thoughtful,” the fox rolled his eyes, but his tone was lighthearted. “There, all cleaned up. Off we go now.”
Collei had already finished getting ready by the time Tighnari was done cleaning the younger one, and she was impatiently waiting by the front door. “Can’t you guys go any faster?”
“Working on it,” Cyno responded as he shooed Scaramouche off of Nahida’s lap so he could pick the girl up. He moved her to the couch, where he helped the little one put on her shoes. Once done, he handed Nahida her bookbag and patted her head, “Have fun at school today.”
She smiled gleefully and nodded. “Ms. Nilou said we’re going to be learning about different kinds of animals today!”
The father put on a smile in return, “How exciting. You will have to tell me all about what you learned when you get home, alright?”
Nahida wiggled in excitement before being ushered out the door by Tighnari. Karkata ran out behind her and Collei led the smaller girl to the car, leaving the two dads alone at the front door.
“Good luck at work,” Cyno leaned over to kiss his husband.
They could hear the two girls saying ew from the driveway, prompting Tighnari to stick his tongue out at them. The fox turned back to Cyno, and gave him another kiss. “You too. I’ll see you tonight.”